David Johansen "Sweet Revenge" (1984)
David Johansen died on February 28, 2025 after a long battle with cancer and other health troubles. Johansen was the last surviving original member of the New York Dolls, the early-'70's glam rock quintet who came to be recognized as one of the earliest punk rock bands. After that band called it quits in 1976, lead singer Johansen began a solo career that aimed closer to rock's mainstream, but with little success. Johansen finally hit it big in the late-'80's under the name Buster Poindexter, his kitschy pompadour-topped lounge-singer alter ego, who became famous for the party song "Hot Hot Hot".
Johansen's fifth solo album, Sweet Revenge from 1984, is currently unavailable. This was the last album he released before he adopted the Buster Poindexter persona. (One of the songs, "Big Trouble", is about a womanizing bad guy named Buster, but it's hard to say if it refers to Johansen's soon-to-be-alter-ego). This album is heavy on synth-rock sounds, with clean high-tech production that even polishes up Johansen's gruff voice, particularly on the opening track "Heard The News". Although it was fairly logical that a former New York Doll could evolve into an '80's new waver, it sounded as though this once-audacious ex-punk was begging for mainstream acceptance on Sweet Revenge. There is a track titled "N.Y. Doll", but it is not at all reminiscent of his former band; in fact, it borders on disco! Johansen does show some of the rebellious attitude of his Dolls days on the class-envying "The Stinkin' Rich", and the harder-rocking "Too Many Midnights". He shows a more sensitive side on the title track, on "I Ain't Workin' Anymore" (a ballad which lifts its "work work" chant from the Contours), and on the deeper "In My Own Time". The danceable hip hop number "King Of Babylon" provides a few fun minutes of proto-Poindexter party music, fitting the showman's personality well; that song was played on a Miami Vice episode in 1985, and 40 years later, it has aged better than most of the album's other tracks. Sweet Revenge is usually easy to swallow, especially for fans of '80's synth-rock, but it goes a bit too far in sanitizing the sound and presentation of this once-raw proto-punker.
David Johansen "Sweet Revenge" (Passport PB 6043) 1984
Track Listing:
1. Heard The News
2. Big Trouble
3. I Ain't Workin' Anymore
4. King Of Babylon
5. Sweet Revenge
6. Too Many Midnights
7. In My Own Time
8. The Stinkin' Rich
9. N.Y. Doll
Johansen's fifth solo album, Sweet Revenge from 1984, is currently unavailable. This was the last album he released before he adopted the Buster Poindexter persona. (One of the songs, "Big Trouble", is about a womanizing bad guy named Buster, but it's hard to say if it refers to Johansen's soon-to-be-alter-ego). This album is heavy on synth-rock sounds, with clean high-tech production that even polishes up Johansen's gruff voice, particularly on the opening track "Heard The News". Although it was fairly logical that a former New York Doll could evolve into an '80's new waver, it sounded as though this once-audacious ex-punk was begging for mainstream acceptance on Sweet Revenge. There is a track titled "N.Y. Doll", but it is not at all reminiscent of his former band; in fact, it borders on disco! Johansen does show some of the rebellious attitude of his Dolls days on the class-envying "The Stinkin' Rich", and the harder-rocking "Too Many Midnights". He shows a more sensitive side on the title track, on "I Ain't Workin' Anymore" (a ballad which lifts its "work work" chant from the Contours), and on the deeper "In My Own Time". The danceable hip hop number "King Of Babylon" provides a few fun minutes of proto-Poindexter party music, fitting the showman's personality well; that song was played on a Miami Vice episode in 1985, and 40 years later, it has aged better than most of the album's other tracks. Sweet Revenge is usually easy to swallow, especially for fans of '80's synth-rock, but it goes a bit too far in sanitizing the sound and presentation of this once-raw proto-punker.
David Johansen "Sweet Revenge" (Passport PB 6043) 1984
Track Listing:
1. Heard The News
2. Big Trouble
3. I Ain't Workin' Anymore
4. King Of Babylon
5. Sweet Revenge
6. Too Many Midnights
7. In My Own Time
8. The Stinkin' Rich
9. N.Y. Doll
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